


Somewhere Deep in the Pines

by Falln_Grce



Series: Seeking For One Last Beacon [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: But also, Child Abandonment, Everyone Is Alive, F/F, Fae Stiles Stilinski, Family Drama, Family Feels, Good Alpha Peter, Good Derek Hale, Healthy Relationships, Horses, I wrote a sequel, M/M, No Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Oh My God, Past Child Abuse, Recovery, Sassy Cora Hale, Stiles Stilinski is Part of the Hale Pack, farm life, i'm not even sorry, past trauma, seriously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-10-05 21:16:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20495453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falln_Grce/pseuds/Falln_Grce
Summary: This is a continuation of the previous story titled, "Backstage is Full of Parasites" and I recommend reading that one first.Set about seven months after the last story ended, we are going into June of the next year.Stiles settles into life at the new house. He has worked hard for the last two and a half years building a life that he's proud of with people who love him. Recovering was not entirely easy, but he's finally in a good place, setting plans and sticking to them. Which means, of course, something had to come in and wreak it like a damned bull in a china shop.





	1. Introduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This story may cover dark topics. For anyone reading this who is fine with that, please proceed. 
> 
> For anyone who would prefer to avoid a story that might contain triggering material regarding PTSD, child abuse, and child abandonment, this story might not be right for you. Or, you may want to discuss some of the topics with a trusted friend, adult, or counselor.

Stiles began his Friday morning the same way he’d began almost every morning for the last couple of years: Working in the gardens. He and Peter usually woke pretty early, right around sunrise. And after getting a quick coffee, they set out to get to work. 

Stiles pruned, and watered, usually collecting a nice wheelbarrow full of detritus to throw into the chicken or goat enclosures. Meanwhile, Peter saw to the care and feeding of the animals. As well as collecting eggs and goats milk. 

No one in the house really had a taste for the milk, but Steve had a friend who did, so Peter collected it all the same. 

Four days out of the week, Stiles went into the stables after working in the gardens. Cora and Derek did a full five, and Jordan put in evenings with the horses after garage work.

Peter was enormously comfortable being out in the world, taking over the role of doing most of the shopping for the house, but he was just as happy to be shut up in the library working on research when he wasn’t out taking care of the animals.

He still acted as Left Hand for the Hale pack, and Annie had been telling the truth years ago when she said he was an author. He was. He had a sci-fi series with a historical twist published under a pseudonym that had done, and continued to do very well on the bestsellers list.

It was a busy schedule for everyone, but still somehow very relaxing. Every Friday, Stiles took off from the stables to work outside on the little farm at a more sedate pace, and harvesting anything that was ready. 

With it being a farm, weekends weren’t exactly free. But on those days, Marcus usually met them at sunrise to pitch in. If there was anyone who got behind the idea of a farm more than Marcus, Stiles hadn’t met them. Apart from helping out at their place, Marcus had converted half of the open space in his own back yard to growing crops. 

He’d had a greenhouse put in, and was persistent in mentioning to Stiles that he should expand his potting shed into a longer greenhouse for winter crops. Stiles hadn’t relented yet. But he had a feeling by next winter Marcus just might win that argument.

At the same time, the gardens were already more successful than he’d initially expected them to be. He was in his second year on the farm, and already this summer’s crops were more than they needed. He’d bought several decently sized baskets to fill with produce for friends and family, and most weekends saw him dropping a few each with Talia, Steve, and Annie. And that was on top of what he kept for their own kitchens. 

As much as possible, Stiles preferred to cook with what they grew themselves. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d bought greens or tomatoes, or even potatoes from a store. When he’d started going over the plants he wanted back at the beginning, he made sure to include the staples a lot of meals were made of. He’d ambitiously included a big line up in the beginning. And none of them had really failed, so he kept going.

The goats were awesome in clearing the land to rotate fields for the crops, and by setting up the chicken coop as a movable structure, he had free fertilizer already on the ground.

He was busy pulling up carrots that morning, already covered in dirt a couple hours in. He knew Peter would be stopping him for breakfast soon when he felt his stomach growl and realized he’d been envisioning what kind of dish he could make with the carrots in his basket.

Beef stew maybe? It wasn’t really breakfast food, but Peter had just picked up some local beef from the farmer’s market last weekend, so maybe for dinner. 

They don’t raise cattle, and he still wasn’t sure about keeping animals for slaughter. He supposed Peter probably wouldn’t mind, they did eat meat after all. He just couldn’t see himself doing it. But he’d been considering getting a few cows for milk. Especially after they started going to the local farmer’s market every other weekend.

Farmer’s Market Sundays were typically a family affair. And he meant the _whole family. _Talia and Marcus joined them, as well as Derek, Cora, and Jordan. By the time they got back home, Cora was stuffed on handmade pastries and they had two truck loads of organic beef, chicken, milk, and bread. On top of a slew of other dairy products, fruit, and natural juices.

Some people kept giant toolboxes on the back of their trucks. The Hales kept coolers to transport produce. 

“You ready, sweetheart?” Peter stopped next to Stiles, right on time as his stomach let out another grumble, and held his hand out to help him up.

He dusted himself off, noticing Peter was slightly cleaner than usual. “I’ve still got a lot to go. There’s more than last time.”

Peter smiled at the dirt and leaves in Stiles’ hair, picking out a piece and brushing his sleeves free. “Hmm,” he agreed. “Do you want help after breakfast?”

“Well, I’m not gonna say no,” Stiles grinned back, basking in the attention. “Come on, Cora’ll be up by now. Let’s hope she saved us some coffee.” He patted his wolfs chest and turned to set his basket out of the way. There was no point bringing it back to the washing station when he’d just be coming back later.

“Hey, what do you think about beef stew for dinner?” He asked as they moseyed along the paths back to the house, happy when Peter agreed to the menu.

The house was surrounded in hedges on three sides, with two different areas of stone steps along the back perimeter leading up a slope to the gardens, and behind that, the animals. The only area not covered was the front of the house and the main drive.

It wasn’t the hedges they originally transplanted from the old Stilinski house, though that was still there as well, just set inside the northeast quadrant of the land and encompassing Stiles’ old treehouse. The main hedge border, on the other hand, was massive.

The house itself had grown from the earlier, smaller designs Stiles had done in his bedroom. There was the central structure, with tall windows making up the front façade, and giant timber framing above the common areas. After the entryway and seating areas, the kitchen and pantry dominated the left side with a ‘little’ breakfast nook, while the right side held a large dining table and behind that a living area with couches and a fireplace.

On the other side of the fireplace, behind one of the only walls in the open floorplan, was the twin fireplace in the library. As designed, the library was two floors, with the majority of the top floor open in the center. Next to the library in the back of the house was the guest room. It had its own bathroom, although there were two more in the house besides.

Flanking the front of the house on either side were two apartments. They were each two stories, with the bedroom and bathroom on top, and a generously sized living area below. Cora, and recently Jordan lived in the one on the left side of the house, while Stiles and Peter lived on the right. They didn’t extend as far back as the main house did, but they were still very spacious on their own.

Despite Stiles saying he liked to get out of the house for things, Peter had brought a drafting table into their apartment. He didn’t build him an entire workshop, but Stiles thought it was nice some evenings to be able to relax with a design in his own space if Peter was still busy with his own work.

As they made their way down the stone steps, Peter guided Stiles along the path by his rose hedges and over to their apartment. It would be easier to get clean in their own bathroom and then head back over to grab something to eat.

Peter had been very accommodating of Stiles’ designs for the home. But after it was pretty much decided that they would be sharing the space, he took control of the bathroom layout. Never let it be said that he didn’t have a taste for the small luxuries in life. And what was more luxurious than a five-star bathroom. 

Stiles was quick in the shower though, knowing he was just going to head right back to the gardens after breakfast anyway. When they finally did reach the kitchen, Cora was trying her hand at eggs as Jordan was brewing a new pot of coffee.

Peter quickly took over the stove, stating he didn’t want to ‘eat rubber’ for breakfast, and Cora breathed a sigh of relief before joining Stiles at the table. She knew her limits.

Aside from Stiles not getting to all the crops, it was a typical Friday. Cora and Jordan both left after eating, and Peter joined Stiles back in the gardens. They stopped early for lunch, and then seeing to the animals, and especially Cas’ new barn. He was getting company soon, and Stiles wanted everything ready.

It was a long day, but like most days, he felt good by the end of it. It wasn’t just being busy. Having the farm gave him a steady influx of gratification and a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

When Stiles woke on a Saturday morning, Talia and Marcus were already over at the house. 

He’d gotten used to doing a mental ‘perimeter sweep’ upon waking up. And Steve had taught him how to isolate the individual energies to recognize who was around. It worked outside the wards, but it was infinitely easier when a person was inside his boundaries. He wasn’t surprised when he felt them on the land. 

The week days were mostly too busy to spend much time together unless it was for dinner. But Stiles enjoyed having them every weekend. And despite the ten mile distance, they frequently chose to walk. Though when they did, they usually showed up later in the day. 

A quick check of the driveway while he was walking to the main house from the breezeway showed that they had brought Marcus’ truck. Stiles had a private chuckle when he saw the giant beast of a truck. Marcus was every bit as pretentious with his automobiles as Peter was. But unlike Peter, the other alpha had chosen to trade his flashy sports car in for a giant Dodge after they’d opened the stables and started the farm.

Stiles had three just like it sitting four miles away at the stables himself. Two belonged to the business, but one was just for himself. He still had his mom’s Jeep, it was parked outside the house, and he used it if he ever went into town on a casual errand.

But Cas needed the attention that their early morning rides gave him, and Stiles was more than happy to ride the horse to the stables at the start of the day, and back home most nights. If he ever left Cas there overnight, he typically caught a ride with Cora.

Having the trucks at the stables meant easy transport for the horses if they needed to take them anywhere, or if they needed to pick up supplies or feed from town.

Speaking of feed, Marcus and Jordan were supposed to head into town the day before and grab some. He trusted it’d been done, but he made a mental note to ask about it anyway.

“Hi, Sweetheart,” Talia greeted him in the kitchen with a smile and a kiss to the side of his head.

He’d long since grown comfortable with her, with all of them really. Having spent the last two years sleeping next to Peter every night, his aversion to close contact had dimmed.

Mostly, anyway.

He’d gotten to the point where he was okay with random touches from the people in his circle, even Annie and Mark. But strangers, or people who were simply acquaintances were still very much in the ‘hands off’ category.

Stiles accepted the greeting and thanked her for the hot coffee she placed in front of him when he sat at the island counter.

There were two baskets of eggs sitting next to the sink, which meant Peter had already collected from the chickens and sorted out one to keep for them and one for Talia and Marcus to take back with them.

“If you’re staying today, I can get a quick harvest in from the crops to add to that,” he offered, gesturing to the eggs. “I have some already, but I didn’t finish yesterday.”

Talia was in the middle of responding that it sounded like a wonderful plan when Cora shuffled into the kitchen.

“Ohhh, food,” Cora sighed dreamily over at her mom as she walked up to the counter.

Talia laughed and gave her daughter her own kiss good morning but quickly shooed her away from the cooking station as she started on a small breakfast for the two younger pack members.

Cora was perfectly fine with that idea, slumping in her chair and clearly still exhausted from a late night. She hadn’t even changed out of her sleep clothes yet.

They ate while Talia cleaned up, always the good mother keeping the house clean. Before long though, Cora left them to talk after breakfast, wanting to get a shower in now that she was up and awake. She gave her mom a quick kiss and hug in thanks and let them know she'd see them that evening.

Peter and Marcus were still somewhere outside, so Stiles asked if the pack alpha wanted to see the new mini-barn they’d put up for Cas. Two of the wild horses they’d brought in about 6 months back had really taken to Jordan and Derek respectively. 

Jordan already had experience working with wild horses from his early days on a ranch, and Derek had learned the ropes with the Castillo pack down in South America. When they’d brought the six horses in from the BLM, it was with every intention of training them all in the TIP program, and adopting them out. But two of the geldings had bonded with the men, and they’d bonded right back. It wasn’t a surprise when they said they intended to keep them.

They were extremely lucky in that Cas had been fine with the two horses. He didn’t like most of the others. In fact, Cas had a problem liking most any other living creature.

He was fine with Stiles, of course. Whenever the young elf was with him, he was the model of good horse behavior. And he was fine with Derek and Peter, and was indifferent to Steve. But anyone else, no matter how kind and gentle they approached, were met with immediate apprehension and distrust.

There’d been a third horse out of the bunch of six that Cas hadn’t had a problem with when Stiles had introduced him. But it was a mare, and he wasn’t sure if they were ready to have a foal situation happening just yet. He hadn’t let her be adopted out, but he wasn’t sure about moving her to the house when they brought the other two. Another thing to talk to the family about, he just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

When he and Talia walked away from the house, he showed her the lettuce, kale, and onion crops that were coming in nicely. As well as tomatoes, radishes, peppers, and carrots he’d picked the day before.

“The baskets you gave us the other week are in the truck,” Talia mentioned as Stiles picked a few cherry tomatoes for them on their way by. “We can get those on the way back and I can help you out with the harvest.”

He gave her a winning smile and reached down to do a fast pruning by hand on a couple of the plants, gathering the cast off to toss into the chickens’ netting when they passed them as well.

When they reached Cas’ paddock Stiles caught sight of Jordan and Marcus carrying bags of feed and hay barrels into the barn. He burst out laughing, leaning over a little at the unexpected glee.

It wasn’t the feed, or the fact that Jordan was carrying around hay.

“What the hell is on your head?” He asked Jordan and Marcus around a fit of giggles.

Jordan scoffed and proceeded to carry the hay into the barn, away from his rude little charge. Stiles wasn’t chastised in the least, and laughed again when the man came back out.

“I’m from Arizona, Stiles. You work on a ranch, you wear a hat.”

He snorted at the man’s affronted tone. “Yeah, but a cowboy hat?”

Jordan slung another bag of feed over his shoulder and shot back, “What do you think I do around here? It’s cowboy work.”

“Dude, you’re a mechanic.”

Jordan grinned, “Part-time mechanic. The rest of the time, I work in the stables with the horses.”

Eh, Stiles shrugged. Fair point. Jordan won that round, he supposed. But still… a cowboy hat.

“Well, I think the two of you look handsome,” Talia smiled over at Marcus, the other alpha wearing a matching Stetson.

“Why thank you, my love,” Marcus grinned at his wife. “A gift from our future son-in-law.”

Jordan blushed a little at the mention but didn’t dispute it as he carried his load away from the truck.

In itself, that would have been cute, but Stiles nearly fell over laughing again when the older man tipped his hat at Talia like he was in his very own John Wayne movie.

Peter, not wearing a hat, was on his way back from catching Cas in the field so the horse could have his own breakfast. He was usually up at the fence and impatiently waiting for his food most mornings, but Stiles figured the extra people at the barn weren’t to his liking. He was proven right when Cas pulled a bit as Peter led him closer and he caught sight of Marcus standing a little too close.

He watched as the horse made a move to come over the top of the Marcus when the alpha didn’t move out of the way.

“Hey, now,” Stiles called over in a stern tone as he walked up. “Back off, Cas.”

Thankfully, the others knew very well how temperamental the horse could be, and quietly moved themselves to the other side of the walkway as Stiles reached up to take the harness lead from Peter.

His wolf greeted him with a brief kiss hello, which Cas tolerated for all of two seconds before giving them a demanding snort. Stiles gave the now over sixteen hand horse a few scratches on his nose before leading him away and getting him sorted.

By the time he got back, Jordan and Marcus had finished the offloading of the feed. Jordan had driven the small pick-up away from the barn, but the three Hale alphas were waiting for Stiles, talking over the crops he’d shown Talia on their walk up.

“Stiles,” she called as he came back. “I was just saying, you could really do something with the food you grow here. And the eggs and goat milk. Maybe something like the farmer’s market?”

Stiles smiled. It was something Peter had said a while ago after one of their first visits to the place. If he couldn’t feel Talia’s sincerity, he might have thought his partner had something to do with her bringing it up. But it was innocent. And he let her know that he was just fine, “providing for my family right now. Maybe down the road, though.”

She accepted the answer as Peter pulled him in close for a longer ‘good morning’ greeting.

“Talia says you guys are gardening today,” Peter stated, sliding his cheek across Stiles’ own before using his face to tilt the young man’s head to the side and nuzzling into his neck.

Stiles pulled the man’s arms in from where Peter had hooked into his belt loops and shifted his head to give him more access. “Hmm. We are,” he confirmed, indulging in the closeness until Peter pulled back.

“Good. I’ve got a shower planned, but I’ll be in the library with Marcus for most of the day.”

Stiles gave him a look as he stepped back. The library was Peter’s usual retreat, but if Marcus was joining, it wasn’t about his next book. It was business. Pack business. Which meant something was happening. A scan of Peter’s emotions told Stiles is wasn’t a small matter, but if he wasn’t saying anything yet, it meant he wasn’t sure it was an actual pack problem.

Stiles nodded to let him know he understood the situation, and that he would wait for details later.

Peter gave him another kiss, more thorough than the one before. But he pulled back, knowing they had an audience. He, himself didn’t mind in the least. But he knew Stiles did, so he kept it brief. After another quick peck to his forehead, he turned them around so they could join Marcus and Talia on the walk back.

The day was happily spent around the house, like the one before. Cora and Jordan took off to do a quick check in at the stables and do a little shopping in town, while Stiles and Talia spent a few hours in the gardens.

With the help, Stiles was able to get the rest of the harvest, not that Peter hadn’t been a help the day before, but Talia was a brutal taskmaster. By the time they stopped, there were baskets made up that would need to be run into town for Steve and Annie. Talia’s own basket was filled to the brim. 

The room Jordan had previously occupied before moving into Cora’s apartment was called a guest room, but they all knew that Talia and Marcus had mostly commandeered it at this point. They kept some clothes and toiletries in the room for days like that Saturday, when Talia helped in the gardens, or Marcus helped with the animals, or both.

Which Talia was grateful for when she and Stiles were done washing and sorting the food. He left her to clean up and went back to his own apartment to do the same before stopping in on Peter and Marcus in the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you go through this story, there may be parts that you find to be dark in nature. If any of my stories have caused you to re-experience a traumatic event in your own life, I am including a link to crisis hotlines and an important message from a crisis hotline website: 
> 
> https://www.allaboutcounseling.com/crisis_hotlines.htm  
OR  
https://www.opencounseling.com/hotlines-us 
> 
> Remember…help is a phone call away.
> 
> In any crisis, if you are in immediate danger, call 911.
> 
> If you cannot call 911, proceed to the nearest Hospital Emergency Room to ask for assistance. Regardless of the type of crisis, the Emergency staff will contact whichever branch of crisis intervention service is appropriate to get you the help you need.
> 
> If you cannot locate a Hospital Emergency Room, proceed to the nearest Fire Station or nearest Police Station, where the staff will provide help and connect you with the appropriate crisis intervention service you need.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When the story wants to come out, it does! Enjoy!

Unlike the library in the main Hale house, the one in Stiles’ house was soundproofed. He’d loved the idea of French doors though, and had incorporated it throughout the house. There was just something so inviting about the glass panels, even when they were frosted.

The library itself had the biggest footprint of any other rooms in the house, even the apartments. And the main structure, despite having an open floor plan still had operative sections for different areas. The upper floor was where most of the books were kept, with shelves lining the entire length of the walls, save for the giant windows and door to the porch.

Stiles hadn’t been sure of the idea in the beginning, but Peter had talked him into a wrap around porch that covered the entire house. It actually ended up being a nice idea to have dual access to rooms, one from the inside and one from the outside, without having to go down into the yard. And it provided cover from the elements if a random rain burst appeared but they didn’t want to just stay inside.

Rain wasn’t altogether common in their area, but Peter had seen more of it in the time Stile’s farm had been in place than he had in any length of time before. He didn’t know if his little elf was calling the weather, but he was happy it benefited the crops either way.

Peter had spent the first year tracking down as many books as he could find to fill the shelves. He’d hired a dealer to find and procure items with a more occult and supernatural thread, and Talia had transferred over some from her own library. But his assortment contained other subjects as well. From historical to medical to agricultural, he was proud of his collection.

He had a reading area on the second floor, but the lower level held his desk, a seating/strategy area in the center, and another more private seating area against one of the walls in front of the fireplace.

The research he needed to do with Marcus that day actually had three components. First there was a bit of unfinished business.

After two and a half years, they had a lead on Deucalion. He had moved back home to his family estate in the UK. Though how he’d escaped notice when they’d checked, they didn’t know.

Deucalion Blackwood was from old money. Old British money. His family had a lot of land on the English countryside that they’d held for generations. The Blackwood’s had all but moved out of the area, and the estate was mostly abandoned for the better part of a decade. But it was there. And they had kept eyes on it.

They spent some time going over the details they each found. Marcus and Peter had some common contacts, but they each had ins in different circles. Marcus had spent Peter’s time away as an active left hand for the pack. And after Peter came back, both from Cambridge and from South America, they decided he should keep those relationships.

It was an effective method of pooling their resources and bettering their ability to learn about goings-on in the community. They spent a good chunk of their time that day scrutinizing the evidence that the deranged alpha was actually where others said he was. 

One thing that didn’t escape notice was the fact that there was no sign of Deaton. In all of the reports from their contacts, there wasn’t even a whisper of the druid.

“I suppose it’s possible Deucalion killed him,” Marcus mused, leafing through the pages of an eye-witness account.

“No. I talked to Steve a week ago. He’s still alive.”

Steve had both of their signatures from the attack on the Ito pack. He checked in on the situation once every few weeks, making sure they weren’t headed back. He could get a general idea of distance, and an even more general idea of direction. But pinpointing an exact location wasn’t in his wheelhouse, he’d said. 

Wherever the devious ex-emissary was, no one seemed to know. And it was a very small comfort that Steve couldn’t feel him nearby. Steve was good, and Peter trusted him. But magic was tricky like that. Peter wouldn’t really be at ease until they had a location on the man.

The second issue was Laura. 

In the years since she moved out of Beacon Hills, the young beta had isolated herself a little more each month from their pack. She was still a Hale beta, but she’d taken to the idea of being an ‘alpha’ for the new wolves.

She hadn’t made any move to become a member of the Ito pack. And while she was welcome on their territory, Satomi respected Talia’s position as alpha too much to jeopardize their relationship.

The Ito alpha and Talia spoke at least once a week. They met for tea at least once a month. She’d walked the grounds at Stiles’ house for crying out loud. There was absolutely no way she would accept Laura into her pack without some serious discussion with the three Hale alphas.

But Laura wasn’t asking to join anyway. On Satomi’s last call with Talia earlier that week, she let them know that Laura intended to travel east. Scott and Isaac interacted with Ito pack members more than the young Hale did, and they let it slip that their ‘pack’ was moving to New York in about a month.

The wolf they’d shared that information with, Brett, had gone to Satomi immediately. He remembered the Hales helping him when the alpha pack had been there. It was Talia who’d found him first, and he’d been unwaveringly grateful to them ever since. Back when he’d first learned that a Hale wolf was moving closer, he was excited for the chance to strengthen a friendship with their pack.

But Laura hadn’t really given him the time of day, and Isaac and Scott were more interested in ‘fun’ than anything else. But then he got a new classmate at his private school. Cora Hale. She was nothing like her sister, and sought him out immediately.

At her request, he kept the knowledge of her attendance at the school a secret, after checking with his alpha of course. But they quickly became friends and he’d jumped at the chance to visit when Satomi had come out.

Cora’s uncle Peter had scared him a little. Even when he’d met the alpha back when he was being rescued. Peter had never done anything _untrustworthy_, exactly, but when he met him for a second time at the alpha’s house and met his mate, there was something about the way the two of them watched everyone and everything that had his guard up.

They weren’t a threat, but he was very aware that they could be. Satomi had taught him that respect went a long way with people like them, and he was never anything but utterly respectful with them. Although he didn’t know how to feel when Peter looked at him after Cora explained his proximity to the new wolves. The alpha had smirked, but had cold eyes when he’d addressed Brett directly, commenting that, “Aren’t you just a good little spy.”

So, he shared information with Satomi when he had it, and the plans for Laura to move them to New York had certainly been shocking.

“If she’s taking the boys,” Peter started after Marcus had unpacked what he knew, “I don’t see how Noah won’t be going with them. Did they use those words exactly? Did she say she’s moving ‘her pack’ to New York?”

“Yeah,” Marcus answered around a sigh. “According to the boys, Laura has some friends there from her time in college. She said they were werewolves, but they didn’t mention any names.”

Laura had never been forthcoming from her social life at college, and they’d never really thought anything of it at the time. College kids were like that with their parents sometimes.

“How’s Talia taking the news?” Peter asked. He imagined she would be beside herself. 

Marcus shrugged, not having anything to distract himself with. There were no folders put together on this yet, they had no visibility of whoever it was in New York that Laura was headed to.

“She’s not thrilled, obviously. But she hasn’t talked about it yet,” he answered. “I don’t think it’s something she saw coming. I mean, Laura’s been pulling away, we’ve all seen that. I think we just assumed she wanted a little independence being the oldest child.”

Peter respected that Marcus wanted to think the best of his daughter, but his job was to imagine the worst. “I want to look into getting the spell on the vault access changed.”

“She’s not a threat, Peter. For God's sake, she’s my daughter.” 

He’d expected the outburst. “Marcus, I love you. And I know she’s your daughter; she’s my niece,” he conceded. “But she’s making a choice here. And I’m sorry, but if she does this, she’s setting herself up as a direct opposition to this pack. If that’s truly what she wants, then okay. But she’s not taking the Hale fortune when she goes.”

Marcus wasn’t swayed. “You can’t think she would do something like that. Peter, it’s _Laura.”_

Peter leaned back on his desk, folding his arms and looking towards the doors before focusing back in the other alpha’s direction. “You know, I was watching a horrible movie the other night with Stiles. Some god-awful zombie thing, end of the world, how will humanity survive… And for the most part, I tuned it out. But don’t ever tell him that please,” he added around a grin.

“But the point is, there was one line that I liked. When all the scientists dismissed the idea of _zombies_ because it was ridiculous, one man was chosen to believe it was real. And it helped save a lot of people for a while. That’s what this is,” Peter insisted. “I’m not saying she absolutely would do this, I’m just saying that I have to believe it’s possible. It’s my job, Marcus.”

He was right. And Marcus knew that. Sometimes, the role of the left hand was a very lonely one. Peter had to consider the worst outcome and prepare for that in order to keep the pack safe. Marcus was absolutely fine with the research aspect, and he loved playing a detective. But there was something about Peter that was infinitely more suited to the role than he ever wanted to be.

Especially if he had to calculate the likelihood of his own family turning on them. Marcus wasn’t ashamed to say he never wanted to think like Peter. But he was grateful someone did. “Okay,” he yielded. “Let’s talk to Talia about it. If she agrees… then okay.”

Peter gave him a tight smile, knowing the subject wasn’t easy, and not wanting to be insensitive. He was happy when the other man seemed to brush the conversation aside for the meantime, picking up the last folder on the desk. The mystery folder that Peter’d been intrigued with as soon as it came out.

If his brother-in-law had saved it for last, it probably wasn’t anything good. He directed Marcus to bring it with them as he led the way over to the fireplace. Marcus joined him without argument, tossing the file and himself down onto the leather couch, and relaxing with a tired sigh until Peter deemed the fire was going well enough to leave.

It was summer, and the days were warm, especially when they were working outside for the majority of them. But the nights still got down to the fifties, and Peter enjoyed the dark area against the wall, next to the fireplace to wind down with his research. Especially if it was for fun.

Stiles had often come to collect him at the end of the day and teased about the picture he made in the leather chairs, reading in front of a fire. He’d said Peter looked like, ‘One of those distinguished gentlemen in his mancave. Where’s your tweed jacket? You want me to buy you a smoking pipe for Christmas?’

As he settled himself in his favorite chair, Marcus handed him the last file.

The name on the front page was frustratingly familiar: Isaac. 

“You’re kidding me.” Peter said after reading the summary.

The other alpha rolled his eyes at the stupidity of the whole situation. “No. And talking with Satomi, it doesn’t look like Noah knows anything about this one.”

Peter’s response was a snort of disbelief as he leafed through the papers. “Yeah, cause that’s a stretch of the imagination right there,” he drawled out.

“Talia was on the phone with Satomi about this one. She’s keeping an eye on the situation, but considering Isaac isn’t in her pack, things might get a little touchy if she gets too involved.”

There was a gentle knock on the door before Stiles padded in on bare feet. He was dressed down in a soft Henley and softer flannel pants. 

Peter smiled at the sight, and particularly the way he seemed to fill out the clothes better than when they’d first met. “Hello, Darling,” he called over, lifting an arm to encourage him to join them in front of the fire. 

Talia had finished up, and they could hear her through the open door in the kitchen with Cora and Jordan getting started on dinner. Stiles let them know that he’d felt when Derek arrived, confirming he was somewhere in the house.

Derek tried to join them most evenings for dinner, though he preferred having his own place to go home to at night.

Marcus excused himself before his wife could ‘burn the place down.’ She was great at breakfast. Not so much a full dinner meal. He closed the doors behind him, giving the two of them a bit of privacy for a moment.

Which in turn allowed Stiles to be more comfortable with showing affection. As soon as he was close enough, Peter pulled him down into his lap and settled them both back against the chair.

The warmth of Peters chest combined with the heat of the fire at his back had Stiles slumping forward in relaxation. Added to that, he let out a moan of appreciation when the wolf’s fingers started to gently knead into his back muscles.

“You didn’t want to go take back your kitchen from the invaders?” He mumbled into the fabric.

Peter closed his eyes and settled into the weight. “Hmm. No, I don’t think I want to be anywhere else but right here.”

“Such a sap.” But he melted impossibly further under the continued ministrations. The older man had been consistent in ensuring Stiles understood there was ‘no pressure’ in the beginning. And after sleeping beside Peter for nearly a year, Stiles had discovered his passion for intimacy.

But true to his word, moments like this could be shared between them with no expectation for taking it further. Besides, Stiles preferred to do that without the possibility of an audience, and the doors to the library weren’t locked.

When he’d walked in the room, the tension of that afternoon’s research had crashed into him. He and Peter would need to talk about whatever investigations were underway, but it could wait another day. They had a family dinner to get to.

Eventually. For now, his current body warmer was too comfortable to leave. Someone would surely come get them when the food was ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For any California natives unhappy with the weather depictions (because I got a comment about it on the last story): I stole from my own experiences. I spent over two years between Monterey Bay-Salinas-Fairfield, California. The nights were plenty cold, and we didn’t get a single drop of rain in that entire time. Not even in the winter months ;) 
> 
> I asked a geologist about it once when I was taking her class, and she tried explaining to me about the ridgeline forcing the weather like that on the other side of the ridge due to the way wind carries in from the coast and then up-and-over the top. And that lack of steady rain could very well be a contributing factor to the fires. So while I never got California rain in those 2+ years, I got mist, and I certainly got the smoke from the fire (which was an interesting/frightening thing to see coming over the bay). Sorry if it’s not your California experience, but it is mine.


	3. Chapter 3

The next Tuesday brought a new face to Stiles’ house. Peter and Steve were the only one’s home at the time, everyone else having gone to work for the day. Steve would’ve been at the garage himself, but Peter had asked him to come by and go over the information they’d found on the wayward alpha and druid.

Also, if they were going to change the spell on the vault, Steve’s ability to tap into the magic would be needed. He wasn’t a witch, or a druid, but changing a spell wasn’t outside the realm of his capabilities.

Knowing Peter would be outside for most of the morning, he’d arrived just before noon. And they’d gotten pretty well into a heavy discussion on the matter when Peter heard a car approaching. He wasn’t expecting more company, and something told him this wasn’t Talia or Marcus stopping by.

It wasn’t.

They’d been sitting outside for their talk, enjoying the grounds in privacy while they discussed possible plans for the situation. But at the sound of tires, Peter led them back into the library, then through the house and out to the front porch.

Where Laura was pulling up.

She got out of her car with a big smile for Peter, though she eyed Steve for a moment. “Uncle Peter!” She called. “It’s been so long.”

Peter plastered smile on his face and greeted her with a quick embrace once she reached the top step. She didn’t know that he knew about her intended move. And he was curious to see where this visit would lead.

“We _did_ invite you out for the barbecue when it was done,” he reminded her but kept his tone friendly and teasing.

“I know, I know,” she agreed. “But it was so early with the boys back then and I didn’t want to leave them. Wow, this place is huge.”

From her position on the front porch, the house looked bigger than it actually was. Not that it was small, but the front showed the central structure, both breezeways, and both apartments.

From behind, one would see that the apartments didn’t extend as far as it seemed, though the center did, and was impressive enough.

“Laura, you really should have called first.” Peter was gentle about it, but still firm. Laura always did have difficulty respecting other people’s boundaries, and he’d started setting firm lines with her years ago. “Steve and I are in the middle of something at the moment. How can we help you?”

“What? I can’t come visit my uncle? We’ve barely seen each other in years.”

Peter sighed, making no move to invite her into the house or even walk the grounds. “That was your decision. You knew where to find us. Did you stop in to say hi to your mom on your way by?”

The only way into their house was by an extension of the driveway at Talia’s house. In the years since they’d moved in, the road had gone from dirt and gravel to an actual paved roadway, but it wasn’t on any maps, and their mail was still delivered to the main house. 

She looked contrite for a second, but rallied quickly. “Not yet, I have some news and it’s probably better if I run it by you first.”

He supposed it was possible that she was, in fact, coming to him for guidance and took a chance that he’d be home. But that was the thing: she hadn’t known he was going to be there. And if she really wanted to discuss something with him, why hadn’t she called first? Or even texted.

“We were just getting ready to grab a bite to eat,” Steve spoke up. Do you want to come in?”

Peter looked at him, shocked at the boldness, but recovered quickly when he picked up the slightest eye twitch from the man. 

Laura had met Steve during the whole alpha pack mess. And while they’d never spoken, he’d never treated her unkindly. She sent the man a giant smile and accepted.

Peter followed at a more sedate pace as Steve led them into the kitchen and grabbed three glasses from the cupboard. They made idle chit chat while Peter hung back and let his friend fix them all a plate of sandwiches.

By this point, everyone who was regularly at the house was comfortable in the kitchen. Peter had no problem letting Steve take the lead on getting the food together. Besides, he knew that _Steve knew_ Peter would prefer to observe everything he could from his niece instead.

Laura repeated her earlier assertion that it had been a while since they’d seen each other. Just like before she alluded to it being an unfortunate circumstance that she wanted to change.

Also, she’s moving soon, and she didn’t want to leave without catching up. It wasn’t a lie, per say, but there was something else there. At least she was up front about the move. He tried to probe for details about the people she knew in New York. But she deflected, saying they were just friends from college.

Peter played the part of the loving uncle, letting her know she should make sure she told her mother of her plans before someone else could, and then filling her in on the day-to-day goings on of life on a mini farm. 

“You seem happy,” she told him when they were done eating. 

“I am.” he agreed. “I’m serious though, Laura. Talk to your mother. Let her know what’s going on.” 

“I know, I really should,” she agreed, ducking her head and going in for another hug as they saw her back to the front porch. “I’ll head over there when I leave. She’s gonna be mad, huh?”

She didn’t ask to see the rest of the house, and apart from looking at the back yard through the kitchen windows, she didn’t ask to see the gardens. 

“I don’t know.” He walked her down to her car and she reached for another hug. It felt like a bigger goodbye than it should. “Just tell her straight. She’ll respect that, if it’s something that you want.”

He watched her pull away before turning back to Steve on the porch. “She’s up to something. She’s family, but something feels off with her being here.”

“Let’s go,” Steve said in lieu of a response. He stopped back in the kitchen to carefully pick up the half-empty coffee cup from the table that Laura had been drinking from. “Grab my bag out from my truck,” he directed. “I wasn’t sure if we’d have what we need for this today, but she just made it so much easier.”

In their earlier discussion, Steve had told Peter that he could remove an individual person’s access to the vaults. But they’d have to do them one at a time. “If we had a witch, they’d probably be able to cover them all in one shot. But you’re stuck with me so… Yeah it’s gonna take a while.”

Another presence pinged on Peter’s radar as they were walking across the yard to the tunnel entrance, though this one was much more welcome in his mind than the last.

Stiles was happy to discover his wards would alert him to know exactly when a stranger sets foot on his land, even when he’s miles away. But he was royally pissed that Laura had come.

Steve confirmed the waves of energy left over from Laura’s visit held as much deceit as Stiles was picking up as he and Jordan came riding in on the trail from the stables. They’d brought the horses all the way to the house, meeting Peter and the older elf on the grass.

“I hope you boys ate something, dinner’s going to be late tonight,” he told them. “Go put the horses away and come right back, we’re running the tunnels.”

It was already into the afternoon, and going tunnel by tunnel would take a while. It was one thing if Peter was running through them by himself, but considering the distance between each opening, and the fact that they couldn’t let the liquid from the coffee cup spill, they would be going at a slower pace. 

Of course, there were the four-wheelers Jordan had insisted on for trail scouting, and after putting the horses in the barn, he and Stiles rode those back to the house just as Peter was opening the entranceway. 

He’d called Marcus and Derek while they were gone, letting them know what was going on, and that it might be a good idea to get a Hale wolf in each vault to wait for them.

Another thing the phone call had led to was confirmation that Laura hadn’t stopped in to see her mother on her way out. 

“Don’t worry,” he heard Jordan shout over at Stiles’ look of apprehension about driving the thing down the stairs. “They’re made to handle a steep incline.” 

Peter led the way down into the vault, flipping on the main overhead lights, and closed the opening after Steve had followed the boys inside.

Steve got to work immediately. It wasn’t a quick process by any means, he hadn’t been lying about that. The original spell on the place wasn’t his. But he’d dealt with spell work before. He could do it, it was just going to take some time.

From the hub at the main house, Talia had taken off for the vault under the high school while Marcus waited for Cora and Derek to arrive so he could send them out to one of the other vaults together. He took the last one by himself. 

He’d given Talia the basics, knowing that it would be more delicate coming from him right then and there, than waiting for Peter to hiss out the facts later. Peter was pissed. After Laura’s impromptu visit at his house, and almost snub of her mother and father’s house, it seemed they needed to prepare for the fallout. 

Marcus didn’t believe Laura had come just for a drop-in chat with her uncle any more than Peter did. But if not that, then why was she there? He didn’t want to believe Peter had been right, but all the signs were pointing in that direction.

After sealing the tunnels to the first vault, four men from the farm drove the ten miles underground back to the Hale house. From there, they sealed the main entrance and took off down the next tunnel.

The group picked up Cora and Derek first. The two of them ran back to the main house with them, and the whole procession started for the next tunnel. It might’ve been faster perhaps to travel in a car above ground, but the potential for being seen was too great. Also, the distance between the house and the vaults was a straight shot, as the crow flies. No need to be delayed by winding roads or red lights. 

Marcus was their next collection, and by the time they made it to the vault under the school, they found Talia leaning against a pillar next to an open safe. 

“I was too late.” Talia said, looking over at their arrival. 

“How much did she take?” There was no questioning whether or not it had been Laura. Every wolf in the room could smell their family member had been there. 

“Not all of it,” she answered. Looking at her husband with a painful disappointment etched across her features. “It seems like she was in a hurry, there were still some notes scattered on the floor when I came in.”

In the end, Peter announced she’d taken only about a quarter of what had been there. And it wasn’t the only safe the pack had. Still, it was a lot of money. 

Steve asked if Talia still wanted him to seal the last entry point. She gave a cold look about the room, seeing her pack watching her with bated breath. “Do it,” she told him. All the steel of an alpha command in her voice. 

Peter shocked everyone by staying silent and grabbing a few granola bars for each of them and some bottled water. He was behaved the entire time Steve worked. As well as the whole trip back to the house. But when they double checked the last entry behind them at the main house he pulled Talia into a tight hug and declared, “Look at it this way, she’s now got her inheritance a little early, and you can write her out of your will.” 

Maybe it was Peter’s tone, maybe it was the emotional and physical exhaustion. But Talia burst out into peals of laughter against her brother’s shoulder for a solid three minutes. By the time she pulled away, her eyes were wet with tears. And they knew it wasn’t just from the joke. 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a little shorter, but it needed to come out. More soon! Enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

Laura didn’t call after that night. And a check in with Satomi uncovered the fact that she hadn’t left the state yet. But it was planned to be happening very soon based on what Laura had mentioned to Peter.

He’d never let on that he already knew when she was visiting, but the timelines matched up between what Brett had told Satomi and what Laura had told Peter herself. Of course, after that night, Peter wouldn’t be surprised to see her moving that timeline up a little.

The call to the Ito alpha also gleaned a little information on Noah’s transfer to a law enforcement position in New York. It wasn’t due for another two weeks at least. When they’d moved into Ito territory, Noah had transferred to an open deputy slot in the local sheriff’s office. And although the three wolves didn’t spend much time socializing with Satomi, she’d made a point to check in with Noah from time to time.

She promised to keep an ear out for any news of an early departure.

Speaking of the elder Stilinski, the very next day after Laura’s hit and run, he reached out to Talia and Marcus.

Initially, they been furious. But there was no way to know whether or not he knew what their daughter had done. And when he called, it was to ask if they’d arrange a meeting with Stiles. 

In the years since Stiles had spoken to his father, he’d changed cell numbers and hadn’t passed on his new contact information. 

Talia and Marcus were sticking close to home that day, but Stiles’ house, their house… eh, potato po-tah-to. As soon as the call with Noah ended, they made their way over.

Cora, regrettably, had to spend at least a little time at the stables. But they had staff for most of the work with the clients, so she would be cutting out early. Jordan refused to leave that morning.

Steve had never left, choosing instead to happily crash in the guest room after dinner. Mostly, he’d said, it was to use the luxury shower. Not because he was worried about safety issues.

Talia wasted no time bringing the request up to Stiles. He and Peter were in for a few hours at least. There was still caring for the animals that afternoon, but Peter wanted him close for now.

He’d bustled Stiles out of bed that morning, and after they’d seen to everything outside, he sat the younger man in the library with him.

All in all, Stiles took it in stride. He wasn’t worried so much about himself, but that might be due to the fact that he and Steve were checking in on the ‘territory’ regularly. But he did recognize that Peter had an anxious thrum about him. Just a bit of unsettled energy. If Stiles staying put and within arms reach provided the man with a little calm, it wasn’t too much skin off his nose.

Which was where Talia found him, nestled on the couch reading a random book on plant properties.

“I’m sorry, he wants to what?” Peter interjected, coming over from his ‘strategy desk’ after Talia mentioned Noah’s request for a meeting.

“Peter, he’s Stiles’ father. Let him decide please,” Talia admonished in the way any older sister would when they’re used to reigning an unruly sibling for years.

Peter scoffed at the insinuation and sat himself next to Stiles on the couch. But he waited until Stiles spoke up before saying anything else.

“I guess it’s now or never, then?” Stiles asked.

“Not necessarily.” Talia shook her head slowly. “It’s been a while, yes. But if you needed more time, I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem to wait. He’s just moving to New York. If you wanted to wait another year, maybe two, however long. You don’t have to see him right now if it’s not what you want.”

Stiles had, of course, been filled in on everything the day before. They all had. So he’d had some time, a few hours at least to get used to the idea of Noah moving.

Marcus had taken Peter’s usual chair and added that, “We’re headed up to see Satomi tomorrow. How about you take tonight and really think it over. If it’s what you want, then we can set something up when we get there.”

He’d like to say they could call ahead and confirm, but the less people who knew Talia was on the way into Ito territory, the better.

Of course, if Stiles did go, there was no way Peter was going to be left behind. It would be a fun car ride if nothing else.

He didn’t give an answer just then. He did let them know he’d think it over, but shortly after the conversation had settled, he took off to be outside, claiming the hedges needed pruning.

In point of fact, they did. Peter had been putting it off, and it wasn’t like they were wildly overgrown or anything. But having a long, outdoor task that required little to no thinking on Stiles’ part was what he wanted right then.

Peter knew he wanted a bit of solitude for a while, and remained behind. Though he made frequent walks on the wrap around porch for the rest of the day, checking on Stiles location and satiating his own need to confirm his presence.

By the time he made his rounds to check in on the animals and see that they were secure for the evening, Peter observed Stiles putting the sheers away in the small shed and heading up to check on the horses.

Jordan hadn’t taken his horse back to the stables after the last night, so Cas had some company. Stiles saw them fed and turned out into the field. They had access to their barn if their stalls if they wanted it. But Cas oftentimes preferred to be in the open for the evening.

Stiles knew there were predators in the woods, coyotes and mountain lions. But they’d never strayed to close to his farm. Even with the chickens and goats. And Cas really did prefer the open air.

After dinner, a much quieter meal than usual, Stiles walked Talia and Marcus to their truck. “I’ll come with you,” he said quietly, and nodded a little more firmly.

Talia gave him a sympathetic smile and pulled him in for a quick hug. Marcus had one waiting as soon as she was done. He glanced back up to the porch and saw Peter leaning against one of the columns, watching them impassively.

He was thankful the man saved whatever he had to say, and that look was always a promise of words, until they were alone and turned in for the night.

Peter pulled him close under the covers. “I’ll be there,” he promised. “I wont come over unless you want me to. But I’ll be there.”

Stiles burrowed in closer, quiet for a long moment before simply replying, “Thanks.”

He didn’t like seeing Stiles retreating inside like he had been that day, but he decided to wait it out and trust that the younger man would let him know what he needed. By voice, or by scent. He’d work with anything. At that moment, he smelled muted but not unhappy. He’d let it rest for now.

They had a long car ride to look forward to in the morning to go over their plans, a mobile strategy session they couldn’t escape unless they wanted to jump out of a speeding car. Talia had a lead foot.

* * *

The meeting with his dad took place at an outdoor café in town. Ito territory was very similar to Beacon Hills. There was that same small-town feel to the place. Though Beacon Hills didn’t have a fancy French style bistro like the one he was sitting at. 

When his dad approached his table, he had a big smile on, but Stiles could see the two years had aged him significantly. His hair had more gray in it than before, and he just looked _older_ somehow.

Almost as soon as he sat down, and once the waiter had been given a coffee order, Noah started in on how everybody was.

There was the anticipated statement about ‘you look good, kiddo.’ But after a quick confirmation that Stiles was happy and safe in Beacon Hills, he switched topics to cover his familiarization period with the new town, which in turn led to talking about Melissa’s job at the hospital and how ‘the family’ has been.

He hadn’t known that Laura had joined his dad when he started working in the sheriff’s office, and supposed that was good information to learn. He wondered if Peter knew.

A quick check across the confirmed Peter was still sitting on a bench outside of some store, watching their interaction with an intense focus.

He tuned back in to hear his dad saying that “The boys did their freshman year of college at Chico, but they’re back home for now. Neither of them are really interested in going back there, but I guess that’s good in a way. With the move to New York.”

Stiles nodded in agreement that it made sense, and silently agreed again when Noah told him he could absolutely move with them. Laura would be happy to include him.

“Scott was pretty bummed he lost his job at the vet clinic when we first moved,” Noah forged on when he didn’t reply. “He’s looking at some schools on the east coast for veterinary medicine. We think he’s pretty serious about looking into that as a career plan.”

Stiles graciously didn’t bring up the fact that he lost his job because Deaton was an insane druid who’d tortured him. 

“I wanted to give you something. Whether you come with us or not.” Noah reached into his pocket and unhooked a key from the chain before handing it over. “It’s to the Store-and-Save on Poplar Street. When the house sold, I packed up a lot of your mom’s things from the attic and put them there. It’s locker 49.

Stiles knew where the place was, he’d driven by it often enough. But he never knew there was a storage locker with his mom’s things sitting in their lot. He had a flash of anger, but kept it locked down. As soon as he got back to town, he’d be making a stop at the place and packing it all up in his truck. Hell, he’d bring as many trucks as it took.

“So, Laura talked to Talia, she says you and Derek are friends now?”

No, she didn’t. He didn’t know where Laura got her information from, but it wasn’t from Talia. Still it was accurate, and it didn’t hurt anything to reply “Yeah, we’re friends.”

Noah smiled at him. “I’m happy you have your soulmate with you. That’s real good news.”

Nevermind the burn scars on his arm….

Nevermind the millions Laura stole from the family two days previous.

“If he wanted, I’m sure there’s room for him in New York. He could come with us, too.”

“Why?” Stiles asked, suddenly wanting to take a little control of the conversation back. His dad looked confused at the question.

“Why now?” he clarified. “It’s been two and a half years. I haven’t heard from you once.”

Noah cleared his throat a little, looking a little more tired than he did when he first sat down. “That’s not fair, Stiles. I tried to see you, Talia wouldn’t let me. She said you needed space.”

“Okay, sure,” he nodded, sitting forward a little. “Maybe the first couple months. But what about after that? What about after a whole year? Two years?”

He kept his voice steady, a calm conversational tone the whole way. And maybe that was the worst part of it all. When Noah did something, or was _maybe_ involved in something that hurt the pack, Stiles was livid. But when it came to himself… he felt nothing.

There were patches of resentment and anger, but they never caught for long. Still, a lot pf thoughts, a lot of questions had been going around inside his head since last night. There was no way in hell Stiles was moving to New York. But if this was his chance to get some answers face-to-face, he’d take it.

He let as many emotions as he could find flood into him, actively working against his default behavior of detaching from everything. He had answers to get and things to say.

Stiles looked his dad in the eye as long as he could and said, “You didn’t try. In all that time, you didn’t try. And I never, not for single moment believed you would. I can remember, back when mom was still alive, and even right after she died, honestly, when I thought about you and trusted that you loved me. That you cared about what happened to me.”

“Stiles, I’m your father. Of course I care.” Noah implored, leaning closer against the table. “Of course I love you.”

“I was nine when you gave me to them. I remember begging you not to leave me there. Begging you to take me home. I didn’t know what I’d done that was so wrong that you would leave me in that place. Talia said she gave you the videos. Did you watch them?”

Noah looked down at the table and Stiles could see a tear fall from his face when he nodded.

“Then you know what they did to me. I can’t…” his head shook in denial at the mere consideration. “I can’t _imagine_ having a child, my own child, and being so out of touch with them that I would leave them in that kind of hell. Even if you didn’t know what they were doing back then, even if it was just locking me away in that place… Why? After ten years, I still don’t know why. I don’t understand how you could get to a place where you thought that was okay.”

“Stiles, I thought you were sick. I thought you needed help.”

He couldn’t help the cold smirk from twitching up the corner of his lips for a moment. “Because Isaac told you I set fires in our bedroom.”

Noah shook his head, “I took him to counseling after I found out what really happened. He’s sorr-”

“Don’t.” There was no request in his tone; it was an order. His eyes flashed briefly before settling back into a cool gaze. It was the loudest he’d been since they sat down. He took a breath and continued, “I get that you thought you were doing the best you could. It wasn’t good enough. Not then, and not now. But I get that you thought it was.”

He looked around them, absently thankful that there were no other customers nearby, before looking back. “And I’m done. I’m done waiting for you to get better. And after I leave here, I won’t think about you again. I’m not going to New York. I won’t be waiting for you to reach out to me and ask me about my life. You haven’t really done that here. As soon as you sat down, all you’ve talked about is how you’re doing. How the person who ruined my life is doing. But you haven’t asked about my life. And I have one now. A good one, with people who care about me, with people who trust me.”

“I do want to know about your life, son. I do” he pleaded. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“Then tell me you didn’t know Laura was going to steal millions from the Hale pack two days ago.”

And that had Noah sitting back in his chair, looking shocked. “What?”

But Stiles wasn’t done. “Tell me, that when it comes down to a choice between me and them, you would let them leave to New York and stay here. Tell me that you would pick me. For once.” He tried his best to keep any tears from falling, but his eyes were filled as he asked for the one thing he’d been terrified to request.

“Stiles, I… they’re not ready to…”

He shut his eyes tight at the reality of the situation, feeling a few of his tears slip free. He took a deep breath and stood abruptly, wiping his eyes as best as possible, and looking for Peter across the street. 

The alpha was already standing on the sidewalk a few feet from the table.

Noah stood up right after he did. “Stiles, wait. We can talk about this.”

He straightened his back again, clearing his expression of any emotion from the last few minutes.

“We just did. That’s the thing about this kind of conversation, dad, you only have to have it once. I’m not the Hale pack’s official emissary, but close enough. When you get home, let Laura know she’s no longer welcome on Hale lands. She’s been stripped of her place as beta, and has no right to the name. We don’t care what name she picks, but if it’s not changed in the next two weeks, we’ll do it for her. Tell her she can keep the money, consider it a parting gift.”

* * *

Talia and Marcus arrived at the Ito pack territory with Stiles and Peter, though they hadn’t been able to go with him to meet his father. 

They needed to talk to Isaac. Brett had done his part by inviting the boy over to the main pack house. As soon as he got there and saw the two Hale alphas, he’d started to back away. But Satomi’s wolves blocked the exit.

They invited him into the kitchen to ‘talk,’ and though it appeared to be under duress, he complied. It was a private discussion they wanted though, and while the Ito wolves stayed close enough to keep an eye out for trouble, they didn’t interfere.

Honestly, it was a little brazen of Isaac to come to the house that day anyway. He wasn’t exactly welcome there, and he knew it. Satomi had offered Laura help with training the two boys. And for the first year and change, Laura took it and was thankful. But after Satomi warned they weren’t as in control as they seemed, she took offense. 

The standoffish nature of Laura’s leadership combined with her recent actions against her own family had the whole Ito pack upset. They didn’t want them on their territory any longer than was necessary, and Satomi was having a little difficulty convincing her pack to let them stay the rest of the month they planned to be there.

It was a tense situation all around, it seemed. 

* * *

They got back to Beacon Hills late that night, Talia dropped them at their door, but Stiles and Peter barely stayed awake long enough to shower before passing out, exhausted from the days events.

The very next day saw them headed into town early to empty out the storage unit. It was on the small side, just some boxes, and all of it fit into the back of Stiles’ truck in one shot. Peter helped him sort through it all back at the house. The journals and books were immediately incorporated into the library, but Stiles took the rest of the boxes out to his treehouse until he could sort through what he wanted to put in the vault and what he would place around the house.

Shortly after getting back from picking up the items from storage and helping Stiles get them situated, Derek showed up with Talia and Marcus in tow.

Derek being in the house wasn’t an unusual occurrence, but it typically happened later in the day when he joined them for their evening meal. Not mid-afternoon.

Marcus suggested the library, and Peter fought to keep from rolling his eyes. “What now?” He muttered, giving the duffle Derek was carrying a side-eye. But he led them all to the back of the house just the same. Stiles returned to the library from the porch door after they were getting settled, unsurprised to see their guests.

Just because he hadn’t stayed in the planning sessions lately didn’t mean he never joined in. No one batted an eye when he leaned against Peter’s desk and motioned to the others to start talking.

“Laura came to the loft yesterday,” Derek told the group. He’d already told his parents when he stopped at their house, but they suggested taking it to the rest of the pack when he’d started with the details.

“She showed up right when I was getting home,” he huffed a silent laugh and shook his head. “She had to know that I knew about the money. But she didn’t bring it up.”

No, it turned out Laura wasn’t there to talk to her brother about the money. Not directly at least. Instead, she invited him to move to New York with her.

“She said the boys missed me, and that they asked about me all the time.”

Derek had stopped communicating with Isaac and Scott the night of the rejection. He’d left for the Castillo pack soon enough after that. And while he was there, he didn’t really use his phone all that much anyway. But by the time he got back, he’d told Peter that it just didn’t feel right. Not with how they had treated Stiles.

“I told her no. Of course.” He glanced up and seemed relieved to see they hadn’t thought otherwise. “She wasn’t too happy about that.”

“Did she hurt you?” Peter asked, suddenly concerned. Werewolf healing was great. But it meant one of them could be hurt and heal fast enough that the others wouldn’t know.

“No, no,” he said, shaking his head quickly. “I just… I’m not really sure if I want to stay in the loft right now. She was seriously pissed. I thought, well… I thought since we were moving the horses out here anyway, I could stick around for a few days and help with that?”

Stiles smiled over at him. Derek had always been so careful in their friendship not to impose. Even though he’d assured him, and Peter had assured him time and time again that he was welcome just as much as any other member of the pack.

“There’s the couch in the living room, or one of the apartments,” Stiles told him. Steve already had the guest room, though he would move if Talia and Marcus needed it. But having Derek around wasn’t a bad idea. Until Laura actually moved her pack east, things would be a little edgy anyway.

Derek happily took the living room couch. It pulled out, being his justification. Stiles’ would have let it slide, but Peter jumped on it. “The couches in both apartments pull out too,” he teased.

It got a huff out of Derek. But it had a smile attached, so it wasn’t anything other than amusement. “Peter, I’m happy that my uncle and sister are both in committed relationships. Really. But there’s only so much I need to hear or smell about that.”

“Fair enough,” Peter announced with a grin and patted his nephew’s arm. “Come on, let’s get you squared away and you and Stiles can go see about those horses.”

“Before we do that,” Talia interrupted the laughing men. “Laura isn’t the only problem. Marcus and I met with Isaac yesterday.”

“I thought I smelled something on the ride back,” Peter grumbled, reaching into his desk drawer for the boy’s file. “What’d we find out?”

Normally, the alphas had an opportunity to discuss new information amongst themselves, or at least Marcus and Peter. But neither really minded about the others being present. Information was information. And neither Stiles nor Derek were hotheaded enough to go running off half-cocked.

Besides, Peter generally shared any information with Stiles before twenty-four hours passed after getting it.

“So it’s confirmed then,” Peter groused when Marcus laid some new documents in his hand.

Stiles leaned over and raised his eyebrows in shock after looking over the papers, which Derek mirrored, but neither said anything. 

“Unfortunately, yes. Isaac wants nothing to do with it.”

Peter scoffed in disgust, “Spoilt child. Where’s the girl?”

Marcus took the file and set about getting the new documents stored inside before handing it back. “About three hours away,” he answered. “Satomi met her, offered sanctuary, but we don’t know if she’ll accept. She didn’t seem to want anything to do with it either.”

It was an ugly situation all around, and he was happy Satomi offered, but he had a feeling this would come down to a Hale intervention.

“Alright,” Peter clapped, standing back up. “Let’s take care of what we can for now, which is Derek and the stables. We’ll worry about this mess later.” He sent the file a disgusted look before turning back to the door and leading the way out. They had things to sort out around the house, and places to be.

Peter gave Derek a ride to the stables so he wouldn’t have to leave his car, but Stiles rode Cas out to meet him there. They let them roam in their field for a bit, mainly so Stiles could check in on the business and see Annie. But soon enough, he and Derek were getting the tack on and riding back to the house.

Peter was confident in Stiles ability to take care of himself in the woods, he went on that same trail ride most days by himself. But it still felt nice that Derek would be joining him on the way back.

Driving Derek hadn’t just been a helpful deed, though. Really, Peter’s primary motivation had been to stop in and see Annie. Except it wasn’t just for a friendly chat.

He had to wait for a bit as a group of customers arrived and Annie got them set up with their trail leaders. The horses they used to take riders out on the trails, or even in the classes there at the stable were all bomb-proof. They’d made it a point to get their horses from summer camps when they closed up shop for the winter.

Unfortunately, a lot of those camps got rid of their stock in the off season, and there was really no telling where those horses would end up. A lot of them made an effort to re-home to safe places, but all too many ended up on the back of a truck headed to Canada or Mexico for slaughter.

While the stables were going up, Derek and Cora had done their research looking for horses in that situation. They would already be used to the work, and it would give them a permanent residence for the rest of their lives.

Cora was a little sad when they had filled their line-up; she’d wanted to take in more. As Peter walked the length of the main stable, he considered opening up a discussion, sometime way in the future, with Stiles and Cora about expanding. 

Although, after getting in the first set of BLM horses, Cora was chomping at the bit to take in more, get them through the TIP program, and adopt them out. They had kept three from the first rotation, as well as the burrows. But they wouldn't be able to keep them all. Still moving the two that Derek and Jordan had kept would free up space in the separate stable they'd already put up for them. so, maybe. 

The business itself was going well, and their calendar stayed pretty booked. That might have something to do with the fact that they were the only place for a couple hours that did group rides and classes. And the pack had the funds to support the upkeep if business did stagnate. Expanding was something to consider at least.

Annie met him at the mouth of the barn as she saw the last rider out and walked with him back up to the front office.

She’d already said hi with Derek and Stiles, and had given him a knowing look when he stayed behind.

“I’m assuming there’s something you needed to talk to me about?” She asked expectantly.

“Sort of,” Peter confirmed, closing the office door behind them. “Not so much with you as with your husband. I need a lawyer,” he added.

Annie seemed torn between surprise and utter disappointment. Peter thought that was probably fair.

“Oh god,” she muttered, throwing herself down in her chair. “What did you do?”

“Ah, see, you’ll be happy to know it’s not something I did this time. Isaac’s got himself into a bit of a sticky situation, and we need a fix. The legal kind.”

Annie was happy he came to her, or them, if he needed something. But she wasn’t amused with the actual person he was asking about.

“Mark really took to Stiles from the beginning, Peter. I’m not sure he’s going to want to help Isaac get out of trouble considering everything that happened.”

Peter considered that for a moment. He was pleased to have the lawyer firmly in Stiles’ corner, but that loyalty shouldn’t interfere with the request.

“Don’t think of it as helping Isaac,” he told her. “It’s more like helping another kid he’s fucked over by being a selfish, entitled little prick.”

His grin blunted the harsh words somewhat. But Annie had known Peter for years. She could see there was a roiling anger on the inside. And it was all directed at a nineteen-year-old kid whose name kept turning up like a bad penny.

“I’ll let him know. I’m guessing this isn’t the kind of thing that can wait?”

Peter finally took one of the chairs in front of her desk and settled back. “Eh,” he shrugged. “It can probably wait for the next four months, or so. But after that, no.”

She nodded and pulled out her phone to text, presumably, her husband.

“You should come over sometime soon.” Peter added. “You and Mark. Come over for dinner. We can go over everything then.”

Annie liked the idea, and she always enjoyed visiting their little slice of heaven. She saw Stiles at work still, but seeing him relaxed at home was such a gift for her. “Can it wait until Sunday? The girls are having a sleep over at a friend’s house. So Mark and I’ll be free.”

“That sounds great,” Peter told her with a smile. “Any requests on the menu?”

She laughed. “As long as it’s not diner food, it’s fine. And Mark’ll eat whatever, you know that.”

It was a plan. Peter spent a little more time with her, catching up on the last few weeks. But he saw himself out soon enough. He had end of day things to take care of back at the house. Stiles typically saw to the animals if he couldn’t, but he also had the horses to get settled. And regardless of whatever else was going on in their lives, the animals still had to eat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I've gotten over my little emotional breakdown where I questioned my whole position on writing/posting fic, and being involved in fandom in general. 
> 
> However, due to claims of this series revictimizing a reader (an accusation I take very seriously), author’s notes have been added to Chapter 1 on both fics as a disclaimer. I've reached the conclusion there is no way to anticipate the unique reactions for absolutely every reader, but I do strive to entertain as many as possible. 
> 
> If my writing has offended you, please know that was never the intention. My writing is often times a form of catharsis for myself using a more fantasy/dramatic setting. Please see the end notes on Chapter 1 for information on crisis hotlines.


	5. Chapter 5

As Sunday evening rolled around, the house was full of pack and gathered in the main kitchen and dining area while dinner was being prepared.

It’d been a market day and their pantries were all stocked with goodies, leaving the menu choices wide open for options. Which meant that Marcus and Cora were more than happy to declare it a grill day and had disappeared out onto the patio off of the kitchen to start on the steaks.

When Annie and Mark arrived, they were happy to get a tour of the changes in the crops since the last time they were there. Well, Annie was. Mark was happy to chill near the grill and catch up.

They didn’t have them over nearly enough in the pack’s collective opinion, although that would hopefully change after that night.

As far as Annie and Mark were concerned, the evening was planned to catch up with friends, but primarily to go over whatever situation Peter needed help with from a lawyer.

But that wasn’t the actual point of the evening. The point for everyone else in the house was one they had discussed well before the evening took place. Annie and Mark had become invaluable to them. And they liked to think of the couple, and their girls, as an extension of their family. The night was intended to make that official.

Steve had a good feeling about it, which was all the push they needed really.

Good feeling or not, when they actually got around to the ‘big reveal’ of the supernatural after dinner, there had been no way for Peter to anticipate the utterly explosive outrage from one of his closest friends.

“You were _born_ this way?!” Annie shouted after Peter as he tried to duck swats from her speedy little hands. Turning it into a giant game of cat and mouse around the kitchen island. “Okay, _Lady Gaga_. You’re still a piece of shit for not telling me! You’ve been my best friend since high school!”

“And you were the very best friend I could ever have.” Peter tried to placate her while still attempting to stay one step ahead of her reach.

“Oh, détente…” Stiles grinned, watching the back and forth like a tennis match. It was the most childlike glee could remember feeling in a while. Especially when Annie said she’d feel much better if Peter stopped trying to run away so she could just punch him a few times.

Despite knowing it wouldn’t hurt him if she succeeded, Peter still danced ahead of her clutches in a wild chase like they were still teenagers in high school.

Mark, who had taken it much more sedately than Annie, turned to Talia. “As much fun as it is seeing my wife try to murder your brother, we’ve got actual business to discuss tonight. The sooner we can get to the legal matters, the better.

Talia tried to wipe the smile off her face at the sight of Peter getting his just deserts and nodded back at Mark. Then she dropped the second bombshell of the evening. “There’s a two-month-old infant in foster care up by Chico that we need to bring into the pack.”

And that had Annie stopping almost midair, releasing Peter’s shirt despite having finally caught him. The rest of the room grew quiet as Talia continued. “The boy was abandoned by the mother when she found out she gave birth to a werewolf. The father wants nothing to do with it.”

Mark nodded solemnly and accepted the file that Talia handed over. “Talk me through this.”

“When a werewolf is born to a human and a wolf, their eyes will flash at birth,” she gave him an example, though they had already shown Annie and him earlier. “The eyes, and any other wolf ability goes dormant for about six months after that. The mother is a college student in Chico, she had the misfortune of sleeping with the most idiotic werewolf I've ever met.”

“Moon moon...” Cora whispered like she’d just stumbled across the most amazing thing, and she didn’t know if it demanded laughter or tears. “Stiles,” she hissed, “moon moon…”

“Cora, no.” Stiles reprimanded, though he was fighting back his own grin. 

“Isaac?” Annie interrupted, remembering her conversation with Peter earlier.

“Yes.” Talia confirmed. “When the girl tracked him down to try and give him the child, he refused. Laura, his de facto alpha contacted one of our allies and asked if they would handle the situation. They’re giving us first shot at sorting it out. We’d like to take the child in, raise him as a Hale.”

Mark leafed through the documents in the file, frowning at some of the info. “The mother’s already relinquished custody?”

“She did. It’s what she told our friend when they talked to her, but I’ve already confirmed it online,” Marcus answered. “Her family is a few hours south, and it doesn’t appear they’re aware of the child. She stayed behind in Chico for the summer, but after giving birth and seeing the baby’s eyes flash, she didn’t make any moves to keep it. It looks like she’s keeping the whole thing from her family altogether, and when Isaac wouldn’t take the child in, she left it outside of a fire station.”

Annie let out a gasp, bringing up a hand to lay on her chest. “Why didn’t she give the baby to your friend? I mean, if she didn’t want it, and they offered. Why just abandon it?”

Talia gave her a warm but commiserating smile, “We felt confident in sharing our secret with you because we think of you both as family. But it’s not an easy thing to learn about for everyone. According to Satomi, the girl was terrified when she spoke to her. She tried to be gentle about it, but sometimes knowing about the existence of… _other_ beings is too much for some.”

Annie shook her head, knowing it was true. But as a mother, it was hard for her to imagine someone leaving their own child outside of a building, hoping someone would find it. 

“And who are the petitioning parents?” Mark asked.

Talia and Marcus both spoke up at that and let him know that they have decided to take that on themselves. They figure it’ll be easier with the courts, already being married and parents that they have the best chance of getting approved the fastest.

Mark agreed, flipping to the page with the child’s information, curtesy of Marcus’ addition. “You know this isn’t really my area. Let me make some calls though. Can I take this?” he holds up the file.

“Of course,” Peter told him. “I made that one for you, but I’ve got a copy in my desk. I’d like it if you kept me briefed on any additions you make though.”

It was an easy thing to agree to, and Mark was happy to have a lot of the work already done for him in terms of research. He’d learned quickly during the whole Stiles fiasco a couple years back that between Peter and Marcus, he didn’t really have to track down as many details as he usually did. Both men were extremely capable investigators.

They put on coffee and moved the discussion to the living room, going over the details of what exactly it meant to be in a pack, and a great deal about werewolves, as well as fae in general. By the time Annie and Mark were headed out, with Talia and Marcus right behind them, Steve had already gone through the house turning off most of the lights.

Back in their apartment, Peter came up the stairs to see Stiles with a faraway gaze. “What’s got you thinking so hard, love?” He asked, tilting the young man’s head back for a kiss. 

Stiles complied distractedly. “This place isn’t really conducive to raising a child, is it?”

Peter raised an amused eyebrow. “Well then it’s pretty convenient that my sister is the one petitioning for adoption, wouldn’t you say?”

Stiles snorted but refocused on the man in front of him. “Come on Peter. Seriously. When we designed these apartments, we never really considered making them _family friendly_.”

“What are we talking about here? Are you saying we should start a family?”

Stiles reared back to look up at him. “What? No. We’re not even married yet.”

And the ‘yet’ had Peter fighting to control his heartbeat. Stiles couldn’t hear it, but still. He had this way of throwing a curveball so nonchalantly that Peter sometimes lost his breath with how strongly he loved the man. 

“I’m just saying,” Stiles added. “What if Cora and Jordan want to have kids... Where are they gonna put them? And what if we want that for us one day? It’s not like there’s really room in here for a baby.”

“Sweetheart. There’s plenty of room for a baby in here. They don’t take up that much space. Not until they start walking at least.”

Stiles looked around the room, and there was definitely ample space for a crib. But it was still very much a single room. There was the bathroom, and the closet. But they couldn’t put a baby in a closet. 

“How about this,” Peter suggested as climbed into bed and pulled Stiles down to settle against him. “If, _if_, Cora decides she wants a baby one day… or we do, we can remodel the apartments to add a bedroom or two.”

Stiles gave a hum as a reply. They could do that, he supposed. And he had to remind himself that it was okay for plans to change. Having things laid out in an orderly fashion and sticking to that structure was all well and good. But sometimes additions were necessary. And sometimes the original plans had to adapt to accommodate that. 

They weren’t adding to their family just yet. Though all this talk of children had Stiles imagining a future where they would. And when that happened, it would be Peter that he would need to lean on to keep him sane and remind him that sometimes he just needed to ‘go with the flow.’ 

The good thing was, Stiles was 100% sure Peter was up for the task.

* * *

Mark met Talia and Marcus in his office downtown a few days later to get started on everything. He was bringing a friend of his in on the case, but it was one who didn’t know about the pack so their conversation would have to be strictly non-werewolf whenever talking to the new man. 

But with the information they’d already collected, Mark’s friend had gotten in contact with the foster home by the next week, and scheduled a visit for the two Hale alphas to meet the infant.

It was a long drive, longer than they’d usually take to drive up to see Satomi. They wouldn’t have minded the others joining them exactly, and Peter did ride up with them, but he wasn’t going to the home to meet the child. And Talia had to admit that it was a little nice it was just Marcus and herself for the first visit.

The foster home had one other child living there besides the baby, and that child had almost immediately caught their eye. Actually, the first thing that caught their eye was the fact that it was a witch who was running the place. 

She was an older woman named Sue, and was the very picture of a loving grandmother. They were a little apprehensive about setting foot in a witch’s home, and no doubt she had known what they were as soon as they’d arrived. 

But when she opened her mouth, the first thing to come out was, “We’ve been waiting for you.” Said with a maximum amount of friendliness that immediately put them at ease.

Added to that, she was holding the baby. 

“I’ve been calling him Callum, my little Callie. He had a time of it when they first placed him here, but he’s a happy little angel now, aren’t you sweetheart?” She cooed down into his face. 

She held the baby out to Talia who felt a tale-tell pinching in her heart that told her she loved that child instantly. A quick look at Marcus’ beaming smile said he wouldn’t be far behind. 

After showing them into the seating area, and noticing the other child hedging around one of the walls, Sue called the boy over. She introduced them to a shy four-year-old boy with dark auburn hair and sky blue eyes, they were promptly besotted with _both_ children. He was well behaved, but a little timid in front of the two alphas. Though that might have been instinctual, seeing as he was, like Callum, a young werewolf. 

Introductions were made, the boy’s name was Tristan and Marcus handled the soothing of his nerves enough for him to relax and nod to a few questions and explanations as to who they were. He was painfully shy. But Marcus had already raised three children and was no stranger to bringing a shy little boy out of his shell. Derek existed, after all.

Sue observed the interactions and talked to Talia more about how Callum was adjusting to his stay there. It honestly hadn’t been too long, but he had adapted as well as one could hope for in a situation like his.

It wasn’t until later, after introductions and getting the children settled in for an afternoon nap, that Sue sat them down for a cup of tea and quietly explained about Tristan’s past.

“Both of his parents were wolves,” Sue told them. “Though they weren’t a pack but for the three of them. I couldn’t be sure who did it, even using every spell I knew for that, so someone was hiding what happened. But it _was_ other wolves, I know that.”

When the police had come into the house and saw the bodies, the only survivor had quickly made himself known by screaming up a storm in a locked room down the hall. They’d broken the door down and found a child, barely a year old, who was quickly placed into CPS custody. 

A scout at the agency had recognized what he was immediately and called Sue to request a placement. “I don’t take in as many kids as I used to, but sometimes I’ll get a call for a situation like the one with Tristan, where it would’ve been much more dangerous for the child, for all of us really, if he’d been placed in a human home.”

The police who’d found him either didn’t notice or didn’t mention his eyes flashing. And the CPS worker had placed him fast enough to prevent exposure. So, she’d taken him in, and raised him as a foster until a family could be found. There’d been a few potential adoptions, but she’d shot them all down knowing that they weren’t right for the boy. 

As an elf, Steve had a gift for premonitions. And they’d been extremely beneficial for the pack. But as an elder witch, Sue had a finely-honed gift of sight that could rival even a fae. She’d known taking Tristan in would change the course of her life, and by the time Callum was given to her, she’d already been expecting it. She’d been expecting the Hales. 

As it happened, the Hales were in the market for an emissary. And there was something about the older woman that just seemed to settle in their bones. Something that made their wolves content. It was an instinctual feeling, and one that Talia had always listened to.

But they couldn’t bring her into the pack without filling her in on the past few years, and the threat they still faced from Deaton and Deucalion. 

She already knew. In the same way she knew the threat would be coming to a head soon. “You don’t have much time,” she said with an honest sort of sympathy. “I’d like to bring the boys for a visit.” Not even questioning whether or not Tristan would be coming.

They quickly agreed and she added, “But it really shouldn’t wait longer than this weekend. It can count as a home visit for _paperwork_,” her tone showing distaste for all the red tape. “But I think I’d like them to stay up here until whatever storm you’ve got coming is handled.”

It was a perfectly reasonable request. After they talked about it more, it felt to Sue like the threat would be on their doorstep before the adoption could be worked out in the courts anyway. But she went through as much of the documentation with them as she could. Mark’s friend had already helped a lot, but having Sue take another look was very welcome.

They’d taken a room for the night in a hotel in town and agreed to stop in the next morning before they went back down to Beacon Hills. If everything went according to plan, Sue would be making the trip herself just a few days after that.

When Talia and Marcus got back to the room, Peter was already there lounging on one of the beds, eating a bag of white cheddar popcorn and watching the local news.

“That’s disgusting,” Talia sneered at him as he licked the dusting off his fingertips. “I don’t know how you can eat that crap.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Because it’s delicious. Don’t be a snob, dear sister. And Stiles is the one who got me hooked on it, so if you want to blame someone, blame him.”

Marcus let out a huff and dropped himself on the bed next to Peter, snatching the bag out of his hands and upturning it into his mouth. For a second Peter didn’t know if he was outraged over his ‘jumbo’ bag of popcorn being stolen, or amused at Talia’s horrified gasp at her husband’s betrayal.

“Did you handle it?” Marcus asked around a half-chewed mouthful.

Peter scoffed and stole the bag back. “Of course I handled it,” he sent back, faux offense at the implication that it was ever in question.

While Talia and Marcus had met the baby, Peter had a different job to see to. It wasn’t all that hard really, tracking the mother down. Her movements were pretty predictable. All it took was being patient enough to wait for the perfect moment when she was alone.

Being the left hand and an alpha at the same time meant Peter could take care of a lot more on his own than before. So, if he needed to carefully extract some memories from someone, he didn’t need Talia to do it for him. In a way, the girl had been right to fear Satomi, and werewolves in general. It wasn’t a danger-free life. But it was even worse if there were people running about with knowledge of their existence alongside a feeling of fear and revulsion.

Peter, the Hales, couldn’t let that go unanswered. It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t something any of the alpha’s in the room really talked about with the others unprovoked. But sometimes, it was necessary.

* * *

Before Sue was due to show up with the boys on Saturday, Steve had taken Stiles and Jordan to the workshop at the garage to pick up a table he was working on for the house. Stiles didn’t know why it would take all three of them, but after seeing it he understood.

It was massive, and had to be set up in parts. They all locked together for a finished look, but they were each pretty long themselves. All told, the table would probably seat twenty, twenty-five people comfortably.

The patio off to the left of the house, where the grill sat, was made up of beautiful, dark flagstones. At first Stiles hadn’t been sure about clearing so much space of grass, but he did like the idea of having a place for cookouts when the weather was nice.

And after Peter had a pergola put up over the whole space, and the vines grew in, he was happier with the more ‘natural’ look of the space.

The chairs were something Steve hadn’t made though, and after they got the table set up, they did a quick head count of who they were expecting before heading into town to purchase some.

They had the whole Hale pack there, including Steve. Annie’s family was coming, as were Sue and the boys. So fifteen total. Although at least two of those would need booster seats, and if the baby joined them outside, they would need a highchair that a carrier could hook into.

The final price tag was a little crazy, but Stiles didn’t bat an eye. After Marcus took over the finances with his settlement, Stiles’ money was _making_ money.

The table itself was a beautiful teak wood that had a lovely whiskey stain and Peter eyed it appreciatively when they were unloading it. Though the size was certainly a shock. Steve told Peter not to worry about the size, he could see it being filled before long. 

When Annie’s girls arrived, they came barreling out of the car screaming in excitement. They had been to the farm before and loved the grounds. Given they were both under the age of six, Stiles could understand their enthusiasm.

He loved the little girls, and in the last two years, they’d started to call him uncle Stiles. He hadn’t known how taken with the children he would be, but they were so pure in their happiness that it was hard not to get sucked into it with them.

Stiles was not expecting to be so taken with the young boy that followed Sue out of her van when she showed up. But he couldn’t deny that he was. 

Talia had gone over the situation with everyone when they got back, and Peter had met the child at the end of their visit up north, so he knew about Tristan. But the boy must have seen how the girls were dancing around him and sort of ‘latched on’ to him shortly after arriving.

Stiles could see he was a little nervous about all of the new people, but Tristan had chosen him to hide behind for the most part. The only problem with that was Stiles had grill duties, and he could see a longing in the boy’s eyes as he took in the farm.

He knew he was technically the ‘host’ for the day. But when Tristan had reached up for his hand and asked to see the chickens, he couldn’t imagine letting go.

Peter gave him a warm, indulgent look full of affection and took over at the grill station while Stiles led the boy up to the gardens, and through to the animals. 

When Derek caught sight of Peter’s eyes tracking Stiles and the boy through the gardens, and the wistful look on his uncle’s face, he nudged Jordan and got the man to join him in shoving Peter away from the grill to go join them. 

Sue mentioned later to Talia that she’d never seen the young boy take to strangers like he had to Stiles and Peter. Instead of them leading him around, Tristan had grabbed both of their hands and dragged them on a tour of the grounds. Quickly becoming much more outspoken than Stiles was led to believe. 

If the goats had been fun, Tristan fell in love with the horses. In a move that shocked the two men, Cas came up to the fence to greet them and, looking down at the boy between them, snorted out a huff of interest and tried to get closer.

Cas was temperamental with new people on the best of days, but Peter picked Tristen up and cautiously held him a little closer to the seemingly gentle beast. Stiles actually laughed in wonder as Cas held his head down so the boy could pet his face. He had _never_ seen his horse take to someone like that. Never.

“What’s that?” the boy asked, pointing to Stiles’ treehouse on their way back down. They took a detour on the way back to bring the boy over and show him the sequestered area surrounded by hedges. Inside the little perimeter sat a private flower garden, a small fountain that the birds loved, and of course, the tree house.

Tristan loved the little house. It was still just a bedroom, set up the same way Stiles had it when it was in the trees outside of his father’s house. But the young boy was captivated by the little space as much as he’d been with the animals.

By the time they got back to the rest of the group, Peter was carrying Tristan inside to wash his hands and the girls were chattering to anyone who would listen about the goats and baby chicks up the hill.

“And the cows are coming when?” Annie laughed, handing Stiles an iced tea as he walked up.

They all laughed, but it was a real question. The table filled as they discussed the possibility of expanding their stock just as Peter came back, depositing the boy in Stiles’ lap. Could they expand? Logistically, did it make sense? 

“I’m just not so sure about…” he held his hands over Tristan’s ears and whispered, “butchering them.”

One of Annie’s daughters was old enough to know what that meant though, and there went the next few minutes of tears at the table calming her down. 

“See.” He said pointedly to Marcus. 

If there was ever a champion for expanding the homestead and adding to their menagerie, it was Marcus. He’d even converted a section of the backyard at his own house to grow crops that Stiles didn’t have room for. He was especially proud of his small rows of corn, and had recently been talking about setting up a small orchard. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Mark interjected. “But isn’t this all preserve land? It’s not protected?” 

Talia explained that most of it is, but they have the rights to alter some of it themselves. They have about three hundred acres of the preserve that is their own. They own all of it, but they would need permits to clear any land beyond that amount.

Of course, they have no intention of clearing that much land, appreciating the forest for running and hiking too much to change it. Plus, the majority of it is open to the public for outdoor activities. But their portion has private trails, as well as a lake and a few streams. An easier territory to manage. 

All in all, the weekend get-together was a happy event. The girls were dead tired by the time their parents drove them home, and Steve gave the guest room to Sue and the boys for the night. He had things at his own home that he wanted to check in on anyway.

* * *

After the weekend visit, Stiles took a few days off from the stables. Peter was happy to have him around the house more, and consistently working together in their little farm was a rare treat that he savored. But the majority of the day still saw Peter and Steve, when he came back over, in the library. 

They had confirmed Deucalion’s location was definitely his family’s estate, having heard back from some of their European contacts. Alan Deaton had seemingly broken off from the alpha wolf, no one over there had seen him at all. Which matched up to the feelings Steve had been getting lately. The druid was getting closer.

Lindsey was headed down from the Ito pack in the next few days to work with them, and Derek had reached out to the Castillo pack. Their delegation should be arriving that weekend. Lindsey would be staying with Steve in town, but Talia and Marcus would host the Castillo’s in their home. 

On top of all that, the next weekend was when Laura and her pack were planning to leave the state. Peter had heard what Stiles said to his father. And while the conversation had not ended on a friendly note, the young man had offered the option for Noah to stay. To show an effort towards wanting to be in Stiles’ life. He didn’t believe for a second that the man would make that choice, and was nearly sickened at what he felt was an inevitable outcome. But it was a possibility. 

Rather than joining them in the library for strategy sessions, Stiles chose instead to stick to their apartment, pouring over his designs at his drafting table. 

Peter knew what he was doing. There was no way to hide it, really. But Stiles was approaching it with such a single-minded focus that the wolf told Steve to get ready for a renovation soon. 

He expected changes to the apartment, and wasn’t let down when he flipped through Stiles’ sketchbook one evening to see the expansion of the structure to add two more rooms on the ground floor with a Jack-and-Jill bathroom between them. 

But one of the pages had a familiar structure that looked like it was also being expanded. 

“Is this the treehouse?” He asked Stiles after carrying the book upstairs. 

Stiles had just come from a long, hot shower wrapped in nothing but a towel around his waist. He rubbed a hand through his hair and looked up a little sheepishly. “Tristen said he liked it. I thought it might be fun to make it a playhouse for him.”

Peter gently set the book down on the dresser and cleared his throat before striding across the room to grab the other man close in a passionate kiss. Not stepping away even a fraction, he reached down and lifted Stiles up, wrapping his legs around his hips and carrying him to the bed.

“Yes, my perfect, perfect boy. Yes.” before easing them down and brushing the covers aside. He had information to discuss, things he and Steve had discovered that day that Stiles needed to know about. But that could wait until morning. 

For the rest of the night, Stiles was his. And Peter selfishly kept the man’s attention on nothing beyond the feel of them against each other, determined to wring out every last drop of pleasure he could find.

It’d taken over two years, two long and amazing years. But Stiles was ready, truly ready now to put the past in the past and move forward without constraints. That treehouse had been his home, his safe place. But now, in their bed, in their house… Stiles had a new one. And Peter couldn’t have loved him more if he tried. 


	6. Chapter 6

Deucalion was dead. And they didn’t even have to lift a finger.

After the Argent attack, and subsequent end to the hunter clan’s reign, packs around the world knew and respected the name Hale. The assistance they’d provided to the Castillo’s, and then the follow up they’d seen through only heightened that respect across the werewolf communities in Europe.

When news spread of Deucalion’s attack, he’d been hunted across the continent. 

After Derek reached out to the Castillo’s for support earlier in the week, he’d let them know that the last known sighting of Deucalion had been at the wolf’s estate in England. Word spread like wildfire, and justice was swift. 

It wasn’t just for the Hales. Deucalion’s pack of rabid alphas had ravaged their community. A lot of good wolves were lost, and a lot of packs had been decimated. 

There wasn’t a council of elders, or anything like that in their community. Much to Stiles’ dismay when he’d asked the question over a year ago. But when a threat became too big, and a well-respected alpha heralded the war cry, mobilization could happen very rapidly. 

No less than four packs from across Europe stormed the Blackwood estate the night before.

Deucalion was dead before sunrise. 

When Peter and Marcus received word early in the morning, Peter gave a quick nod, muttered “One down, one to go,” and left to put on another pot of coffee for the two of them. 

They had a huge day planned; all things considered. And the Hale compound (Stiles had taken to calling the area of land in the preserve a compound because it was a private area that held both Talia’s and his home) was buzzing with movement and energy.

There was farm life activities, which Talia helped Stiles with in the absence of both of their partners, but Cora, Jordan, and Derek were setting up guest rooms and niceties for their upcoming guests.

The contingent of visitors from the Castillo pack would be arriving that evening, and would need sleeping arrangements. Their alpha, alpha’s mate, and three other wolves were traveling north to bolster their reserves for whatever storm was coming, but also to continue inter-pack relations between the two families.

They weren’t related by blood, but Talia and Peter’s grandparents had started the close relationship back in their time as head of the Hale pack, and they made it a point to continue that when their time came. It was why Peter had spent so much time with them before. They were close enough that he considered them family.

And the fact that they had taken Derek in during his sabbatical only strengthened that bond. So it was a surprise to no one that when Derek called down asking for support, their alpha made the immediate decision to offer that support in person.

Annie and Mark arrived at the farm early in the afternoon, with Annie joining Stiles and Talia in the gardens with her girls, and Mark joining Steve and running into town for supplies.

Their intel from Sue let them know that the threat was coming soon, very soon, but the Castillo’s were going to be staying for at least a couple weeks. And despite Stiles’ gardens providing fresh produce, there were things needed from the stores in town to make their stay a comfortable one.

Housing and sleeping would be fine in Talia’s house, but Stiles had the better kitchen, and the space for a big gathering of the two packs.

Around five that afternoon, Derek and Cora came back in to grab Marcus. They would each be taking one of the trucks to go pick the new arrivals up from the airport, and were due to be gone a couple of hours at least.

Which gave Peter plenty of time to reclaim his kitchen and get started on the feast. Talia and Annie had the girls out in the yard catching fireflies as dusk settled in, but Jordan and Stiles came out of the library shortly after Peter had started cooking to let him know someone was coming.

Peter was immediately on guard, but Stiles waved him back to the food, “It’s fine,” he grinned. “Just wasn’t expecting them is all.” He told Jordan to go grab the highchairs for the table outside, and make sure the outdoor heaters were on. Which had Peter relaxing when he realized who their additional guests were.

He pouted for half a minute that he really couldn’t leave the cooking if it wasn’t a threat, and that Stiles was getting to welcome Sue and the boys in by himself.

But the older woman made her presence known loudly enough when she came in through the front door, and Talia’s speed walking in from the patio followed right after that. She made a beeline for Callum, quickly divesting Sue of the baby and brought the group into the kitchen area, directing Sue to set the bags down on the table.

“Good lord, that’s a big roast,” Sue said absently as she joined Peter at the counter. “And are those ribs? Are you planning on feeding an Army?”

“We have more visitors coming, yes we do,” Talia answered, but she was looking at Callum and talking in a sing-song tone like one tends to do for infants. “But you’re the best surprise today, aren’t you? Yes, you are.”

Peter snorted at his sister, but let Sue know about the Castillo visit they were expecting as he made room for the woman in the kitchen. Where she made short work of joining him in preparing the food, like she’d been the one to plan the menu in the first place.

“I know I said I would keep the boys up north until this blows over,” Sue told the room as she got to work on the roast. “But it’s coming soon, and you’re going to need me here for that.”

Far be it from the Hale pack to disregard a witch’s premonition. If she had brought the boys into the territory, she must have felt that the pros outweighed the cons. And they were grateful for the assistance anyway.

Tristan had latched onto Stiles and when Annie poked her head into the house to see what was going on, she offered to take the boy out to the yard with the girls in their hunt for more bugs. Stiles could see the boy was excited to join in on the fun, but he had Stiles’ jeans in a death grip which basically implied he would be joining them as well.

“Steve and Mark are working on the legal stuff in the library,” he told the room. “But call for Mark when those ribs are ready to go on. He said he’d be running the grill tonight.”

Peter left the kitchen to Sue for a few moments while he came over to greet Tristan, hefting the boy up and carrying him out towards the yard.

“Can we see the horse?” Tristan asked.

Stiles grinned as he followed them. “It’s a little dark now, bud. You wanna wait till the morning?”

“Nope.”

The boy’s matter of fact tone got a laugh from both Peter and Stiles, who met up with Jordan and tracked down some flashlights for the kids to have a little nighttime exploration of the grounds.

The main areas around the house had plenty of lighting, and the barn had lighting as well, but the gardens and fields were dark. With Peter, Stiles, Annie, and Jordan in charge though, the three kids got to expand their boundaries a little. It was a big hit with all of them.

They made it back just as Mark was coming out of the house with a platter for the grill, followed by Steve carrying another one. Peter excused himself back to the kitchen when he noticed. He hadn’t meant to leave Sue on her own for so long, but was happy to have her there so he could.

“Stiles,” Talia called, making her way across the flagstones to the table where he and Annie were corralling the kids with some wet-wipes. “I’m going to head up to my house for the crib. Can you watch him while I’m gone.”

Stiles didn’t need to be asked twice, and settled the baby on his shoulder. “Take Jordan with you.”

It wasn’t that he was really concerned about an attack, he just preferred not to have anyone separate themselves unnecessarily. Also, even if Talia could manage the crib by herself, two hands were better than one.

He didn’t comment on the fact that bringing the crib meant Sue was going to be staying in their guest room. It was a foregone conclusion anyway.

But he and Annie had already talked about her family staying the night. She and Mark would take the pull-out couch in Cora’s apartment, while the three kids would camp out on the one in Stiles’.

“Good, good,” Talia told him when he explained the arrangements for the girls. “Marcus just called. He’s about twenty minutes out. So, we’ll meet them there, get everyone sorted in their rooms and head back.”

True enough, about thirty minutes later, Stiles felt a wave of energy getting closer. He felt when the group had arrived at the main Hale house, and he could feel the slight distance getting smaller when he assumed they were headed his way. All in all, the energy was positive. There was a little tension he wrote off to it being an unfamiliar area for the newcomers, but there was no hostility.

Peter and Sue brought the rest of the dishes outside to the table as Mark and Steve finished up on the grill.

For the second time that night, the house filled with voices as the Castillo pack entered and introductions were made. There was a very brief tour, but the group was soon led out to the patio area.

Dinner was fun, lively, and easy. There was rambunctious laughter all around and the adults doted on the children as they ate. It went on well into the evening, past the time the children were put to bed in Stiles and Peter’s apartment. But the rest of the adults all stayed outside as the kids were tucked in and Peter and Stiles returned with coffee for everyone.

The giant table that Steve had gifted them with was filled, just like he said it would be. And Peter looked across at friends and family, and felt an overwhelming moment of happiness that they were all together and enjoying each other.

It was the same feeling he’d had earlier when he was leading the kids around the grounds, and then again when he and Stiles were putting the children to bed.

Not to be morose, but there was no way he could have imagined this being his reality back when he was going through soulmate rejection all those years ago. Hell, he couldn’t have imagined it would be this good even two years ago when he and Stiles were in the beginning stages of a courtship.

But with his own relationship with Stiles growing, he got to see bonds with his pack reinforced, and the ties of family extending out beyond any previous hopes. He just had so much love for them all in that moment, watching them relax as a group. 

Derek was taken with one of the Castillo wolves in particular. It didn’t escape his notice, or Stiles’.

Peter had already seen his nephew becoming more bashful as the young beta joined in on discussions. Stiles really didn’t need to keep elbowing Peter’s side and grinning while head nodding toward the two. 

“They’re gonna make pretty babies,” he whispered to the alpha. 

Peter gave him a look of bemusement. “What is happening right now? Are you having some freak baby craze? I’m honestly concerned.” He wasn’t, but he shifted a little in his seat to address Stiles more directly. “And why are their two bedrooms being added onto the apartment in your sketch? Are we having a baby and you just haven’t told me yet?”

Stiles snorted back, “No. It’s Tristan’s room and another if we need to watch Callie overnight or something.” 

Peter felt a smile spread over his face. They hadn’t come out and said to anyone that they wanted to adopt Tristan. At least Peter hadn’t. And paperwork would need to be filed if they did. But it was a done deal for Stiles, so he should probably get started on that. 

“Well I guess that makes this gift I picked up for you all the more appropriate then,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small velvet box. He held it up to a gob smacked Stiles.

Finally, he’d rendered the man speechless.

Around his own happiness and amusement, he took in the fact that the entire table had grown silent right alongside the young elf.

He set his napkin on the table, pushing his plate forward and twisted fully to the side. He slid his chair out and knelt in the space that was left. 

“Stiles, love. This wasn’t how I planned to do this. Particularly not when we have a battle ahead. But here, in front of our family, our pack, and our friends… I can’t imagine a better time. You’ve chosen me. Not fate, but you. You’ve chosen me to stand beside you, to be your partner. And I’ve chosen you right back. You are my heart, my darling. And I would be honored if you would let me call you my husband.”

Stiles had always wondered what tears of happiness felt like. To be so consumed by such a feeling of adoration that the waterworks just flowed. He wasn’t wondering anymore.

“Yes,” he breathed out. “Yes.”

Peter swept him up from his chair in a giant embrace to joyous shouts and clapping around the table. As the rest of the pack got up to congratulate the happy couple, Peter opened the ring box and slid the brushed white gold ring loose and onto Stiles’ finger. 

Stiles’d caught sight of an inscription on the inside, but that would be something he’d share with Peter later. In the meantime, he had family wanting to pull him into crushing hugs, and friends grinning at him with laughter all around. 

* * *

Stiles woke up the next morning feeling settled and content. Peter had _not _whisked him away from the table after dinner to make mad love to his new fiancé. Nor had they engaged in a quieter version of anything when they got around to turning in for the night.

There were three little children downstairs, and the second floor really didn’t have a door to it. Peter made promises to him, whispered declarations into his skin, as they went to sleep for what he had planned once the whole mess was over with. But it had been a long day of preparations and an even longer night of entertaining. They were both out within five minutes of the room going dark.

After breakfast with the family, and Peter slotting Tristan on his shoulders to take the Castillo’s on a tour of the farm, Stiles and Derek headed into the barn. They pulled Cas and Derek’s horse out after they got past their morning feeding, and put the tack on for a ride out into the trails.

Cas knew the area already, but Derek’s horse would need to familiarize with the less established trails behind the farm.

“How’d you sleep last night?”

Derek had given the couch in the living room to Steve the night before. Stiles had suggested the old treehouse, and after a long moment of consideration Derek had agreed.

“Actually?” he laughed as he seated himself in the saddle. “Better than I have in a while.”

Stiles smiled back. “Yeah, Steve said something about it being its own little bubble of calm when he saw it here for the first time. It feels the same to me, so…”

“I liked it,” Derek assured him. “If you’re okay with it, I wouldn’t mind staying there while everyone’s here.”

Stiles led them away from the grounds and into the trees. “That’s cool. But it’s gonna cost you.”

If he couldn’t hear the elf’s mischievous tone, Derek might have been concerned.

“You can stay there. As long as you spill about whatever the hell that was with you and Yesenia last night.”

Stiles didn’t need to turn around to know Derek was blushing. He could hear the spluttering just fine from where he was.

“There’s nothing going on, we were just talking,” he insisted.

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

“It’s not…” Derek started. “We’re just talking right now. We spent time together down in Argentina, but it wasn’t… we weren’t _together_, or anything. We just talked. I don’t know. I was hoping I wasn’t imagining it, but before I left there were these _looks _she would give me.”

“Oooohhh, looks,” Stiles laughed.

“Shut up, Stiles.” Which of course meant the opposite happened.

But it was good. For both of them, really. They had worked hard to be comfortable with each other. Honestly, after Derek’s first letter to Stiles, and then their correspondence while he was away, they had a pretty solid foundation for a friendship in place by the time he came back.

It was the reason Stiles didn’t hesitate to tease the older man about the new beta. And why Derek was perfectly comfortable cussing him out when he asked Derek to tell him all the fantasies he had while he was working as a ranch hand for Yesenia’s pack. 

Stiles steered them onto a new trail after the laughter died down, and Derek didn’t notice how quiet things had turned for a few minutes. Too focused on the way the path was hardly cleared, and the area got darker the further they went, despite the tree cover being the same.

He didn’t like it, and felt Stiles’ tension when he mentioned it. But the younger man didn’t say anything back, just nudged Cas forward a little more.

Derek was proud of Cas staying calm, his own horse was starting to get a little jumpy. He checked his phone when Stiles didn’t answer his question of where they were headed and saw there was no service.

He was convinced by that point that something was definitely wrong. The preserve may be out in the sticks, but literally every inch of it had cell reception.

He smelled it before he saw it. Stiles and Cas led them through a few tree branches into a small clearing. They’d come to the nemeton.

But it was wrong. Derek knew it had been cut down years ago, but the tree stump, and the foliage around it were rotting. The tree stump itself didn’t just look like a dead piece of wood. It looked disgusting. And the smell was awful, like a decomposing body.

“No one’s been here,” Derek quietly insisted. “The smell’s pretty bad, but besides that and the horses, I can’t smell anything.”

Speaking of horses, Cas had lost his outward appearance of calm, and was stamping his feet around with a nervous kind of energy.

“Come on,” Stiles said finally. “We need to get back.” 

Derek was relieved. 

As they were leaving, Stiles could’ve sworn there were eyes on him. For a second it felt like it did back in high school, the anxiety a physical thing, like someone was poking him in the back. He didn’t look behind them, but he did send out feelers as he followed Derek out. 

Immediately he was met with a dark, oozing malevolence. 

Derek started to turn when Stiles let out a gasp, but he called in a hoarse, almost desperate plea, “Don’t! Keep going forward. Just look forward. We need to get back.”


End file.
